Dump Your Drink - Philippians 2:17-18 Series

Philippians 2:14 Do everything without complaining or arguing, 15 so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe 16 as you hold out the word of life—in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing. 17 But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. 18 So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.

Introduction

David’s Drink Offering

It was a dark time in Israel. The Philistines had pushed deep into Israelite territory – as far east as Bethlehem. Bethlehem wasn’t really a very significant town, except for the fact that it was where David grew up. Where was the mighty David? He is in a cave 15 miles away at Adullam. And we pick up the story in 2 Samuel 23:14 when David gets thirsty.

2 Samuel 23:14 At that time David was in the stronghold, and the Philistine garrison was at Bethlehem. 15 David longed for water and said, “Oh, that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem!”

Maybe he got to reminiscing about back when he was a kid, taking care of the sheep – all the times he would go to the well and get water. And now here he sits in a cave while his hometown is occupied by Israel’s enemies. So he gets to daydreaming out loud, “Sure could go for a nice, cold drink of water from that well in Bethlehem.” He didn’t intend for anyone to respond, he was just sort of wishing out loud. But there was a group of men there who were so loyal to David that his wish was literally their command. It was three of his mighty men of valor. They were his Seal Team 6 – an elite Special Forces group of 30 men who were incredibly loyal. So they hear David say this, and they start walking. Imagine walking from Golden to here, except through really rough terrain. They finally get to Bethlehem, and they’re scoping it out.

“Do we try to sneak in somehow, or just charge up there and try to break through?”

They choose the latter. They figure, “We will just attack, and if we die, we die.” So these three guys attack the guards, break through, then they fight their way to the well, which is the most heavily guarded spot. They take that.

“Here’s the plan –you draw some water and we’ll stand at your back and fight off whoever comes.”

So another major battle.

“All right, I’ve got the water. We can go.”

“Um, slight problem – we’re surrounded.”

So the one guy holds the water, the other two start swinging their swords, and it’s literally a life or death struggle to get out. They fight their way back to the gate, they make it out, and disappear into the mountains. Once they are clear, they stop to bind up some of their wounds, and I’m guessing at this point they are pretty thirsty. But they will die of thirst before they will touch this water they are carrying. So they go find some other water for them to drink. Finally they make it back. David is sitting there – “Where have you guys been?”

“Sir, we brought you something. You wanted water from Bethlehem – here you go. Enjoy.”

I remember when I was a kid I loved this whole story – except for the end. I never liked what happens next.

16 … he refused to drink it; instead, he poured it out before the LORD. 17 "Far be it from me, O LORD, to do this!" he said. "Is it not the blood of men who went at the risk of their lives?" And David would not drink it.

They do that and David just dumps it on the ground? What is he thinking?

To understand this, you need to know that when it says David poured it out, that word for pouring is a special word. It refers to particular form of worship prescribed in the Mosaic Law known as the drink offering. Normally a drink offering would be wine, because it had to be something of some value. But in this case, this water was of obviously of great value because these men risked their lives to get it. And so David used it to worship God by pouring it out to him as a drink offering.

The idea of a drink offering is that instead of enjoying the drink yourself, you give it to God. And the greater the value of the drink, the more of an act of worship it was. So David was doing these men a great honor. They wanted the honor of getting water for the king, what they got instead was a far greater honor – the water they got was used to glorify God in an act of worship.